It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. I tore open the packet. My eyes were fixed on the word “congratulations. ”I don’t remember ever smiling so wide.

    Then I looked at my financial（财政的）package.

    The cost of Dream School’s tuition（学费）, room and board was around $ 40,000- an impossible sum! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, solid schools even if they weren’t as famous as my first choice.

    In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn’t sure what to do.

    One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents’ financial difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I had planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.

    At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful activities on campus （校园）including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events on campus. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.

    As the president ended his speech, we clapped politely and pushed back our chairs. As I walked out that door, a feeling of comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.

In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my “dream”university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.

59. How did the author feel when he started to read the letter?

      A. He was full of joy.

     B. He was lost in his dream.

     C. He was worried about the money.

     D. He was uncertain which school to go to.

60. We can learn from the passage that the parents were _________.

      A. honest                    B. strict                   C. supportive              D. decisive

61. In Paragraph 5, “offered me a full ride”can be replaced by “_______”.

      A. would pay for transport to the school

      B. would show me around the campus

      C. would offer free meals at all events

      D. would charge me nothing for tuition

62. What does the author mainly want to say?

      A. Your second-choice college may actually by your best fit.

      B. You should consider comfort in your choice of schools.

     C. You should try your best to attend your dream school.

     D. Your choice of schools should be based on their fame.

“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” --a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores. Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)

     After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, pletely humbled（挫败的）,”  admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press, stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”

     Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs, “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however----until Bob signed the contract, therefore, she decided to relax and enjoy it. 

Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria, his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.

     As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

     Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative（暂时的） title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.

The couple signed the contract because _______.

    A. Pat plained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

    B. Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

    C. they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

    D. Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book

It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.

    A. pay a certain amount of money

    B.  admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood 

 C. say sorry to his wife

    D. do all the housework for years

What can we learn about Pat Peters?

    A. She was hard-working and selfless.

    B. She was pretty and kind-hearted.

    C. She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks.

    D. She did not love Bob any longer.

Which of the following can best end the news story?

    A. “Wait till your mother gets home!”

    B. “My experience of being a mother.”

    C. “I’m proud of you all, my dear!”

    D. “Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.”

In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, I took what I could get ----- a teaching job at what I considered a distant wild area: western New Jersey. My characteristic optimism was alive only when I reminded myself that I would be doing what I had wanted to do since I was fourteen ------- teaching English.
School started, but I felt more and more as if I were in a foreign country. Was this rural area really New Jersey? My students took a week off when hunting season began. I was told they were also frequently absent in late October to help their fathers make hay on the farms. I was a young woman from New York City, who thought that “Make hay while the sun shines” just meant to have a good time.
But, still, I was teaching English. I worked hard, taking time off only to eat and sleep. And then there was my sixth-grade class ---- seventeen boys and five girls who were only six years younger than me. I had a problem long before I knew it. I was struggling in my work as a young idealistic teacher. I wanted to make literature come alive and to promote a love of the written word. The students wanted to throw spitballs and whisper dirty words in the back of the room.
In college I had been taught that a successful educator should ignore bad behavior. So I did, confident that, as the textbook had said, the bad behavior would disappear as I gave my students positive attention. It sounds reasonable, but the text evidently ignored the fact that humans, particularly teenagers, rarely seems reasonable. By the time my boss, who was also my taskmaster, known to be the strictest, most demanding, most quick to fire inexperienced teachers, came into the classroom to observe me, the students exhibited very little good behavior to praise.
My boss sat in the back of the room. The boys in the class were making animal noises, hitting each other while the girls filed their nails or read magazines. I just pretended it all wasn’t happening, and went on lecturing and tried to ask some inspiring questions. My boss, sitting in the back of the classroom, seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. After twenty minutes he left, silently. Visions of unemployment marched before my eyes.
I felt mildly victorious that I got through the rest of class without crying, but at my next free period I had to face him. I wondered if he would let me finish out the day. I walked to his office, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
He was sitting in his chair, and he looked at me long and hard. I said nothing. All I could think of was that I was not an English teacher; I had been lying to myself, pretending that everything was fine.
When he spoke, he said simply, without accusation, “You had nothing to say to them.”
“You had nothing to say to them”. he repeated.” No wonder they are bored. Why not get to the meat of literature and stop talking about symbolism. Talk with them, not at them. And more important, why do you ignore their bad behavior”? We talked. He named my problems and offered solutions. We role-played. He was the bad student, and I was the forceful, yet, warm, teacher
As the year progressed, we spent many hours discussing literature and ideas about human beings and their motivations. He helped me identify my weaknesses and strengths. In short, he made a teacher of me by teaching me the reality of Emerson’s words: “The secret to education lies in respecting the pupil.”
Fifteen years later I still drive that same winding road to the same school. Thanks to the help I received that difficult first year, the school is my home now.
【小题1】 It can be inferred from the story that in 1974 ________________.

I was brought up by my grandparents for the first years of my life. We   36   in a very small community and all of my aunts and uncles lived   37_  . Everyone had a hand in taking care of my safety. Of course in those days   38   everyone in the community spoke the beautiful language of my childhood. When my grandfather spoke I would _ 39_  him carefully.

Then at age six my father   40   from the army. I was forbidden to speak that 41   ever again. My grandfather was   42   . He couldn’t speak English, so my grandmother would   43   for him whenever he spoke to me. With my mother and father we   44 from that small community. I was about to enter public school so I had to learn English. My grandfather   45   when I was eight and we returned to that small community for his funeral. He was   46   in the living room, as was the tradition. I went and stood by him and   47   no one was around I spoke to him in a whisper   48   that beautiful language of my childhood. That was the   49   time I spoke those words.

Almost fifty years later, _ 50 _ I had forgotten the beautiful language of my childhood, I had the opportunity to   51   a newly written paper of it. On my first look at it I recognized   52   . I must have looked it over several times in the following weeks. Then one day I read out loud a word from my past. I almost cried. I was   53 reading over other words. Words came   54   back to me after all these years. When receiving something from someone, you don’t take it from their hand, rather you let them lay it in your hand. For me it was   55   ---The beautiful language of my childhood was Michif. It was not only a language but also a way of life.

A. lived             B. reached            C. made                D. put

A. far                B. nearby              C. inside               D. outside

A. never             B. already             C. seldom             D. almost

A. give              B. believe in         C. listen to            D. like

A. returned         B. went                C. rushed              D. swept

A. language        B. community       C. hand                D. safety

A. happy            B. joyful               C. heartbroken      D. warm-blooded

A. look              B. translate           C. wait                 D. speak

A. moved into    B. move back        C. move away       D. moved on

A. worked          B. traveled            C. visited              D. died

A. carried out    B. laid out            C. held out          D. pick out

A. when             B. if                     C. even if             D. although

A. for                B. upon                C. at                     D. in

A. first               B. latter                C. last                  D. former

A. long before    B. long ago           C. before long       D. long after

A. beat               B. see                   C. ask                   D. touch

A. nothing          B. something         C. anything           D. everything

A. sadly             B. hardly              C. faithfully          D. anxiously

A. drawing        B. frying              C. flooding           D. steaming

A. simple           B. merciful           C. perfect             D. bitter

It must have been around nine o'clock when I drove back home from work because it was already dark． As I came near to the gates I turned off the head lights of the car so as to prevent the beam from swinging (摆动) through the window and waking Jack, who shared the house with me． But I needn't have done so． I noticed that his light was still on, so he was awake anyway—unless he had fallen asleep while reading． I put the car away and went up the steps．

Then I opened the door quietly and went to Jack's room． He was in bed awake, but he didn't even turn towards me．

“What's up, Jack﹖” I asked．

“For God's sake, don't make a noise,” he said．

The way he spoke reminded me of someone in pain who is afraid to talk in case he does himself serious injury．

“Take your shoes off, Neville,” Jack said．

I thought that he must be ill and that I had better give way to him to keep him happy． “There is a snake here,” he explained． “It's asleep between the sheets． I was lying on my back reading when I saw it．I knew that moving was out of the question． I could not have moved even I'd wanted to．” I realized that he was serious． “I was depending on you to call a doctor as soon as you came home,” Jack went on． “It has not bitten me yet but I dare not do anything to upset it． It might wake up． I'm sick of this,” he said．“I took it for granted that you would have come home an hour ago．”

There was no time to argue or apologize for being late．I looked at him as encouraging as I could and went to telephone the doctor．

When he got home, Neville found that ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．Jack had fallen asleep while reading     B．Jack had been reading for some time

    C．Jack's light was not turned off          D．Jack was ready to answer the doctor

The underlined phrase in Paragraph 6 means ＿＿＿＿＿．

    A．impossible     B．no problem       C．no doubt     D．without difficulty

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage﹖

    A．Neville and Jack lived in the same house．

    B．Neville thought that Jack had fallen ill．

    C．Neville really believed that Jack was not making a joke．

    D．Neville refused to argue or to make an apology for being late．

The reason why Neville thought that Jack must be ill is that Jack ＿＿＿＿．

    A．asked Neville to take off his shoes

    B．made a gesture to show the presence of the snake

    C．was afraid to upset the snake sleeping between the sheets

    D．behaved strangely as if he were badly hurt

According to the passage, Neville should have been home at ＿＿＿＿．

    A．7 p．m．     B．8 p．m．     C．9 p．m．    D．6 p．m．